Whenever Gourmet magazine arrives, I skim it almost immediately. But the trouble with skimming is that you can totally miss something amazing. And delicious. And totally craveworthy.

That almost happened with this Pork Chops Saltimbocca with Sauteed Spinach recipe. I nearly passed it right on over. The title of the recipe didn’t catch my eye, and while the photo was alluring, it just didn’t stop me in my tracks. However, when I was flipping through this weekend, putting together a meal plan for the week, I stopped on this recipe. A few weeks ago, I picked up some beautiful bone-in pork chops and I really needed to eat them already. When I saw that this had prosciutto and fontina in it, I was hooked.

Oh my goodness, you need to make this recipe. It’s divine.

The pork cooks up with so much flavor bursting out every inch. It’s tender, salty and scrumptious. The smooth cheese melts, creating a wonderful, gooey and sharp center to the chop. And the sauce just brings a wonderful richness to the dish. We’ll be eating this again soon.

Heck, Shawn declared the dish restaurant quality — how much better can it get than that?

Pork Chops Saltimbocca
serves 2
Adapted slightly from Gourmet Magazine

2 (1-inch-thick) center-cut rib pork chops
4 sage leaves, finely chopped
2 1-ounce slices of Italian Fontina
4 thin slices prosciutto, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450°F and make sure that the rack is set in the middle of the oven.

Carefully pierce the pork chop on the side and create a pocket as large as you can. Divide the sage evenly between the pork chops, stuffing into the pocket. Stuff one slice of fontina and one slice of prosciutto into each chop and then season both sides of the chops with salt and pepper.

Add the olive oil to a 12-inch ovenproof skillet and heat over medium-high, until hot. Add the pork chops and cook for about two minutes, until the down-side is golden. Flip the chops and transfer the skillet to the oven. Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes, until cooked through. Immediately transfer the chops to a plate and set aside.

Meanwhile, chop the remaining two slices of prosciutto into small pieces and set aside.

Place the skillet on a warm burner and add the butter and lemon juice, whisking to scrape up the brown pieces at the bottom. Add the prosciutto bits and cook for 1-2 minutes until the bits are browned and slightly crispy. Spoon the sauce over the chops and serve immediately.

Knock, knock!

That’s what Paige says when she’s running into a room. It’s her own special way of announcing her presence. It brings an ear-to-ear smile to my face just to think about it. She is so sweet, so smart and so loving … I couldn’t ask for more. And this weekend, she impressed me as she actually acknowledged and played with my niece, who is just three months older. It was nice to see the girls and Will get along so well.

We are back from the wedding and back to life (after hitting the minor speed bump of a half-day of power outage today). That means, as promised, we are back to food. YAY!

One of my very, very, very favorite things is a well-seasoned pork tenderloin. Particularly one that has the rich flavors of garlic, rosemary and white wine soaked deep through the meat. This recipe adapts those delicious flavors to the faster-cooking pork chop. It’s a rich, tender and tasty way to enjoy boneless chops.

Serve it up with some rice pilaf and a green veggie (like green beans) and you will have an easy and delicious meal.

Rosemary Garlic Pork Chops
serves 4

1 lb pork chops (boneless, thin-cut)
12 ” portion of rosemary, needles removed and minced (discard the woody stick)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tbsp white wine

Rinse the pork chops in cold water. Place in a single layer in a flat-bottomed container and set aside.

In a small food processor, combine the rosemary, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and white wine. Process until well combined.

Spread the marinade mixture over the pork chops and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for at least an hour. Flip the pork chops, scraping the mixture off one side and rubbing into the second side of the chops. Get ready to cook, letting the pork site for 5-10 more minutes.

Cook to desired doneness on the grill or under a broiler.

Me: I’m thinking of making a quiche with the leftover ham for breakfast tomorrow.
Shawn: A quiche? (crinkles nose) Am I even going to like that?
Me: I don’t see why you wouldn’t. It’s just eggs, ham and cheese.
Shawn: That’s all?
Me: Yes, that’s it. I can’t believe you’ve never had one before

My husband had never had quiche before I whipped this one up last week. Although it was a brunch staple in my household growing up, it wasn’t in his. He was particularly surprised to actually like it. It just goes to show that just because you haven’t had something doesn’t mean it isn’t totally delicious and worth eating.

Quiche is a lighter, fluffier French cousin of the frittata. It is often made in a pie crust, but can be made crustless as well. For this quiche, I used leftover ham but you could use a cubed ham steak too for this recipe too. But the possibilities for quiche are endless. Vegetables and meats of all shapes and sizes can be added. But you have to have cheese, if you ask me. Without cheese, it’s just eggs in a crust. But, traditionally, quiches didn’t typically contain cheese . . .

For seasoning, this recipe uses herbes de provence, which is a dried herb blend consisting of rosemary, fennel, thyme, savory, basil, tarragon, dill weed, oregano, lavender, chervil and marjoram. I use this blend a lot because it combines several of my favorite herbs – rosemary, thyme, basil and lavender, namely. It is mostly used to season chickens, beef or pork tenderloin, but gives a great flavor to this quiche. My bottle comes from Penzeys but you can also order it from Amazon with free shipping (yay!).

Quick Ham and Cheese Quiche
serves 6

1 prepared pie shell (NOT a deep dish shell)
1 1/2 cup cooked ham, diced
1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1 cup 1% milk
1/2 tsp herbes de provence
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the pie crust in a pie pan (if it isn’t already in one) and put that on a cookie sheet. Layer ham then cheese in the pie crust. Whisk together eggs, milk, herbs, pepper and salt. Pour the mixture over the cheese.

Put the quiche on the baking sheet into the preheated oven and cook for 32 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook for an additional 5-6 minutes until the top is puffed and golden and a tester (such as a toothpick) inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. It makes a great addition to a brunch or could be served alongside some sliced seasonal fruits . . . Mmmm.

Let’s get something clear – I don’t like pork chops. I purchased a large quantity when I was developing recipes for the cookbook and have several left over. I was dreading eating them, but knew I couldn’t put it off forever (much as I would like to!). But then I saw a recipe at Kalyn’s Kitchen. Simple, easy, and sounding quite tasty. I decided to try it.

Of course, I was missing some ingredients and added others. When all was said and done, Shawn likened this to the boneless spareribs at our local Chinese food restaurant – except, this version is cleaner, healthier and fresher. And without prompting, he answered the question I always ask him, “Would you have me make this again?” with enthusiastic affirmation. As for Will? He was too busy eating it up as fast as he could give any response . . . but I imagine that means it was good.

So, thanks Kalyn for the inspiration. This was a great dish (speaking of dishes, that is Will’s new Corelle there – He’s loving it.)

1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground ginger (the powdered one you’ll find in the supermarket)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp cinnamon (use a good quality one)
4 thick pork chops

Combine all the ingredients except the pork chops in a bowl and whisk together.

Wash pork chops and place in a Ziploc bag. Pour marinade over. Let sit for 8 hours or more (I let mine marinate all day while I was at work – about 9.5 hours.

Cooking Methods:

1) Grill: Set the heat to medium on your gas grill. Let the grill warm. Place pork chops on and cook, 6-8 minutes on each side. Cut into the chops to be sure they are done. If they aren’t, cut slits 1/4 inch apart, place on top rack and turn heat up to high. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes until done.

2) Oven: Turn on your broiler. Place pork chops on a broiling pan and into the oven. Cook about 12-16 minutes until cooked through. Follow the above procedure if they aren’t yet done.

Let’s get something clear – I don’t like pork chops. I purchased a large quantity when I was developing recipes for the cookbook and have several left over. I was dreading eating them, but knew I couldn’t put it off forever (much as I would like to!). But then I saw a recipe at Kalyn’s Kitchen. Simple, easy, and sounding quite tasty. I decided to try it.

Of course, I was missing some ingredients and added others. When all was said and done, Shawn likened this to the boneless spareribs at our local Chinese food restaurant – except, this version is cleaner, healthier and fresher. And without prompting, he answered the question I always ask him, “Would you have me make this again?” with enthusiastic affirmation. As for Will? He was too busy eating it up as fast as he could give any response . . . but I imagine that means it was good.

So, thanks Kalyn for the inspiration. This was a great dish (speaking of dishes, that is Will’s new Corelle there – He’s loving it.)

1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground ginger (the powdered one you’ll find in the supermarket)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp cinnamon (use a good quality one)
4 thick pork chops

Combine all the ingredients except the pork chops in a bowl and whisk together.

Wash pork chops and place in a Ziploc bag. Pour marinade over. Let sit for 8 hours or more (I let mine marinate all day while I was at work – about 9.5 hours.

Cooking Methods:

1) Grill: Set the heat to medium on your gas grill. Let the grill warm. Place pork chops on and cook, 6-8 minutes on each side. Cut into the chops to be sure they are done. If they aren’t, cut slits 1/4 inch apart, place on top rack and turn heat up to high. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes until done.

2) Oven: Turn on your broiler. Place pork chops on a broiling pan and into the oven. Cook about 12-16 minutes until cooked through. Follow the above procedure if they aren’t yet done.